Super Kitchen Chilli Ban Mee (辣椒板面) – SS2 Chow Yang, PJ Malaysia
Soup Based Ban Mee - not from Super Kitchen
I ♥ Ban Mee. Full. Stop.
If you are Malaysian or Singaporean, then you probably would know what Ban Mee is. Ban Mee, also sometimes known as Min fun Kueh (麵粉粿), is a simple noodle dish usually for breakfast or lunch, and is made from two basic ingredients – plain flour and water. The noodle is commonly served with sweet potato leaf, mushroom, fried anchovies and pork mince.
What makes Ban Mee so special is that the noodle is always handmade – kneaded, pulled and stretched by hands without using machines. The original Ban Mee always comes in hand-stretched rough uneven flat flour pieces in a soup based made from anchovies stock. The hand-stretched noodles is almost like a stamp print for its “homemade” authenticity and originality.
Dry Ban Mee - not from Super Kitchen
But of course, there is also Ban Mee that made with machine cut noodles. Some people believes the hand-stretched noodles that made to order right there and then has an unhygienic fear factor to it, and prefer the long strands of noodle made by the machines from the factory. I personally prefer the hand-stretched version which has a chewier, firmer texture yet slippery to the tongue. It gives the dish a personality.
During my holiday in Malaysia, I was introduced to other different variations of Ban Mee that I’ve never tried before. The most common variations will be the soup based version and the dry version. The dry version is served on plate which is pre-coated with dark and light soy sauce, and sesame oil that allows you to toss all ingredient together. Some prefers one more than another; but either way I have yet to come across anyone who doesn’t like Ban Mee.
Clockwise L to R: An array of toppings on top of Chili Ban Mee; A side of sweet potato leaf soup as relief; the big yellow signage outside the SS2 Chow Yang outlet; Side order - dumpling soups - RM 4.00
A new heat wave of Ban Mee has become the talk of the town recently. “Let me bring you to try the Chili Ban Mee?” my friend assured me that I will love it and she wasn’t wrong. After a short trip in the car, we found ourselves Super Kitchen restaurant in SS2 Chow Yang, outside a shop with a big yellow sign simply written “CHILLY PAN MEE” on it. Despite the little “Manglish” mishap, it is straight to the point, and what you see is what you are getting.
This restaurant is the 4th franchise outlet, the original one is located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur and my friend claims that the original restaurant is still the best. We walked through the glass door into an air-conditioned room with simple settings of tables and chairs. The one page laminated menu has only 7 items on it – 4 variations of Ban Mee and 3 side dishes. We know we are here for the Chili Ban Mee, even though I was also tempted to find out what Curry Pan Mee is like, another variety that is new to me.
The Chili Ban Mee soon arrived in a black plastic bowl, an array of different ingredients neatly arranged on the top, and the noodle is mostly hidden underneath. The Chili Ban Mee is accompanied by a bowl of soup to put the fire out, figuratively speaking. It is a sweet anchovies broth with sweet potato leaf and egg floss inside. My first impression is that it looks very similar to a bibimbap. Inside the bowl, there are fried shallot flakes, soy pork mince, crispy fried anchovies, a poached egg and a sprinkle of chopped scallions, but where is the chili?
Chili Ban Mee - RM5.50
“This is the bomb,” as my friend reaches out for the little tub of condiment on the table and carefully adds a small spoonful of chili sambal flakes on top of her noodle. I thought this is a smart idea, so we can just add the desire amount of chili according to one’s spicy hot tolerance level. For me, it is always “die hard or go home” and went a little crazy with the sambal chili. I was ready to call the toilet as my second home for many moons to come.
The devilish deep carmine sambal chili flakes are packed with a deadly combination of pounded dried shrimps, fried shallots and dried chilli flakes. It is crunchy with a strong aroma of dried shrimp, then you will be fanning yourself crying for help with your mouth fully coated in chili oil before you know it. Definitely not for the faint hearted. The only one product that I could think of which is pretty close to the chili they used for the Ban Mee is the Tean’s Cripsy Prawn Chili.
A quick toss and soon everything turns a vivid glow of orange. Praise the lord and brace yourself. The thick noodle is nicely coated with chili oil and runny egg yolk which makes it slippery smooth and gradually burning your mouth from inside out. I particular love the occasional crunch of fried anchovies bashfully swimming in the red sea.
I am glad that we also ordered a side of dumpling soup to counteract this inhumane level of hotness. Sweat dews dripping down my forehead, the nose decided to turn the water tap on and started running. Now I am seriously in pain, crying for help. I held my left hand high in mid air, reach out for salvation from the box of tissue on the tiled wall. Praise the Tissue God! Soon I was in chili coma and everything is a blur of numbness.
I love spicy food and I think the Chili Ban Mee is a great new twist to the old recipe. The good thing about Ban Mee is that it is so easy to make and everyone can do it at home! In fact, I already had another dose of Chili Ban Mee over the weekend by using Udon noodle and Tean’s crispy prawn chili. The Udon noodle is a bad choice as it is softer and gooey to the touch. I am sure there will be many more attempts to come until I’ve perfected my own version of Chili Ban Mee.
Super Kitchen Chilly Pan Mee (Batu Road) Jalan PJU5/4, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Tel : +60361417398
A Table For Two (ATFT) is Billy Law's food blog that features best eats in Sydney and around the world with drool-worthy food photography to salivate your appetite. I also throw in a smidgen of my food and travel photography for good measure. Billy Law also happened to be a contestant on MasterChef Australia 2011. 
I’ve never eaten Mee fun kueh with machine made noodles before, or without the sweet ikan bilis soup base. It looks like an entirely different dish! (And entirely different tasty dish, that is…)
.-= shez´s last blog ..malaysian mondays #3: bakuteh =-.
I love ban mian as well. the only place that I know makes a really good one is Coconut House on Elizabeth street. But it still doesn’t beat the ones I had in SG.
.-= penny aka jeroxie´s last blog ..Pancake Dessert House =-.
Oh yes love the ban mee – especially with a super potent anchovy soup! The smell of it is intoxicating!
.-= Karen´s last blog ..My Restaurant, Melbourne (and magical cans of Milo!) =-.
omg that is a lot of chilli! i can feel the sweat just be looking at that fiery red mountain!
.-= Helen (GrabYourFork)´s last blog ..Bodegas Tapas Bar, Surry Hills, Sydney =-.
HAHAHA look at the red/orange GLOW!! Crazyyyyy! Maybe I should give you some After Death eh
?
.-= FFichiban´s last blog ..Almost Bourdain blogwarming ^^! =-.
i luv pan mee too~~!!!! Luv it with the dry version…but i think ur chilli pan mee looks really good..i’ve only tried original dry version pan mee, but the chilli one looks even better!!!
.-= chinesechic´s last blog ..Penang: Foodie’s Paradise!!!:-)….. 槟城：马来西亚之美食天堂….ペナン：マレーシヤの美食首都…. =-.
That is a crazy amount of chilli indeed. I quite like Tean’s crispy prawn chilli, though I have recently seen a lot of other brands at my local asian grocer.
.-= Howard´s last blog ..The Hub, Wanaka, New Zealand =-.
Oh my goodness!
Salivation nation here.
That sequence of Ban Mee pictures before mixing (pics 2-4) were the culinary equivalent of a striptease.
there is another shop selling chilli ban mian too…
In Chow Kit and Pandan Indah (branch) area, i prefer their pan mian as their noodles are very “Q”~~
yummy…will go there 2 eat every weekend if can…teehee
I love chilli pan mee, and my favourite shop is Kin Kin behind the post office on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. They are supposed to be the first to serve chilli pan mee.
At Kin Kin, you have a choice of three condiments – the killer chilli paste, kalamansi lime, and bird’s eye chilli. I love mine with the chilli paste and kalamansi lime.
We usually have two bowls – it’s an addictive fiery fix, and we’ll be sweating buckets. But I love it, even if I sometimes pay for my indulgence with a tummy ache later.